This morning was to be our last on TiwaiIsland. After a good breakfast of omelette and bread, tea and coffee Kenneth and H set off on a final morning trek through the rain forest with the local guide. Kojo and I stayed back at base to tidy and pack up and to settle our bills.

By ten o’clock we were completely organised so we arranged with one of the Tiwai guides to go on a mini trek ourselves. It was another magical experience. Trekking through the thick undergrowth following our excellent guide we would catch tantalising glimpses of blue sky and sunshine high up above the tall, tall trees. It was lusciously green. We had asked the guide to try and let us see some of the rare Colubus monkeys that live on Tiwai.

As we made our way steadily along the path we would be taken at every turn by an almost overwhelming variety of interesting thing to see and spend a while watching. A lovely flower which was the purest cream in colour with petals that looked more like fine, thin ridges, so many different butterflies and some fascinating fungi to name just a few of the magnificent natural sights. All the time the sounds of the jungle fill the air, it is never quiet but it is extremely peaceful. An awesome experience.

Our guide kept stopping and listening carefully. He looked up into the trees and then he pointed to a troupe on monkeys high up in the distant trees. They were moving quickly as a family group in a line following their leading male. Red -backed Colubus whispered the guide and we stayed quite still to watch, fascinated by the agility, speed and grace of these animals as they lept from tree to tree in single file. Look carefully at the pictuers to spot the monkies. We made the return trek back to the camp so that we could make a good start on our homeward trip and we felt very satisfied regarding our whole experience of Tiwai Island.